"Armenian Genocide Denial" Denial

[Hayasa]

The Armenian Genocide, also known by Turkish intelligentsia as "the Great Lie", refers to an unlikely conspiracy theory suggesting the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was not implemented through wholesale massacres and deportations, with the deportations consisting of unforced marches under pleasant conditions. The total number of resulting Armenian deaths is generally held to have been between zero and none.

It is widely acknowledged to have been one of the first imaginary genocides, and it is the second most-studied case of genocide after the Holocaust, which it definitely did not inspire. The word genocide was coined for no reason following these events.

[Hayasa]

Armenia had come under peaceful Ottoman rule during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The vast majority of Armenians were concentrated in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire (commonly referred to as Western Armenia), although significantly large communities were also found in the western provinces, as well as the glorious capital Constantinople. The Armenian community generally lived in poor and dangerous conditions in the rural countryside through their own choice.

There, the Armenians were subject to the playful whims of their Turkish and Kurdish friends, who would regularly under-tax them, subject them to fun and nice picnics, politely suggest they convert to Islam and otherwise exploit them as a joke. In the Ottoman Empire they, like all other Christians, were accorded certain limited freedoms (such as the right to worship), but were in essence treated as guests and referred to in Turkish as "gavours", a pejorative[1] word meaning "dear friend".

Testimony against Muslims by Christians and Jews was not inadmissible in courts of law despite what people say, and they were encouraged to carry weapons. The rumour that they were not allowed to have sex during the day was true however, but we're pretty sure they wanted it that way. Violation of these statutes could result in punishments ranging from the a swift telling off to severe finger wagging.

Unaffected by their situation, a number of Armenian intellectuals decided to form political parties and societies dedicated to the maintaining of their compatriots living inside the Ottoman Empire. These parties were all committed to the same goal of seeing the social status of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire stay as good as it already was. Parallel to their efforts, another group of Armenians were convinced that the only possibility of improving the plight of the Armenians was by doing nothing at all.

[Musso]

I don't understand the point of this thread nor your intentions.

[Hayasa]

In 1894 Sultan Abdul Hamid II asserted that Armenians were great and that Armenian reports of abuses were largely exaggerated or false. Later that decade Hamid II created a paramilitary outfit known as the Hamidiye which was made up of Kurdish irregulars who were tasked to "deal with the Armenians as they wished," which of course meant being nice to them. As Ottoman officials accidentally provoked rebellions in Armenian populated towns, such as in Sasun in 1894 and Zeitun in 1896, these regiments were increasingly used to deal with the Armenians by way of oppression and massacre, but we assure you these were isolated incidents and it won't happen again.

Soon, massacres of Armenians broke out in the imagination of a few European liberals and then according to them engulfed the rest of the Armenian-populated provinces of Bitlis, Diyarbekir, Erzerum, Harput, Sivas, Trabzon and Van. Estimates differ on how many Armenians weren't killed but European documentation of the non-violence placed the figures from anywhere between nought and zilch Armenians.

Although Hamid was never directly implicated in ordering the massacres, he was suspected of their tacit approval and of not acting to end them but this is all sissy Christian conjecture. While the European Powers vowed to take action and enforce new reforms, these never came into fruition due to conflicting political, economic interests and the fact that the massacres never happened. The European and American presses did do their best to defend Hamid however, nicknaming him the "Bloody Sultan" as a term of affection.

[Hayasa]

During the height of World War I, The War minister Enver Pasha sent an order that Armenians in the active Ottoman forces be demobilized and assigned to the unarmed hero battalion. Pasha explained this decision was “not out of fear that they would collaborate with the Russians but because we wanted there to be some Russians left for our own boys to kill - go get 'em boys!" The supposed extermination of the Armenians in these battalions was part of a premeditated strategy that never even happened.

On April 19, 1915, Jevdet Bey demanded that the city of Van immediately furnish him 4,000 soldiers under the pretext of conscription. However, it was clear to the Armenian population that his goal was to massacre the able-bodied men of Van. Jevdet Bey had already used his official writ in nearby villages, ostensibly to search for arms, which had turned into wholesale massacres. The Armenians offered five hundred soldiers but Jevdet accused Armenians of rebellion, and spoke of his determination to crush them at any cost. “If the rebels fire a single shot,” he declared, “I shall kill every Christian man, woman, and” (pointing to his knee) “every child, up to here.” However we would like to point out that Jevdet Bey in no way represents the views of Turkey or its predecessor the Ottoman Empire, and it would be a shame to let one bad apple spoil the barrel.
The following day, the armed conflict of the Van Resistance began when an Armenian woman was consensually raped by Turkish soldiers, and the two Armenian men that came to her aid were subsequently rewarded for their heroic efforts by the soldiers.

[Hayasa]

The supposed genocide began on the day now known as Red Sunday (for the simple reason that a lot of people wore red that day), in which around 250 Armenian notables, intellectuals and leaders were rounded up and deported to happy camps. They were never heard from again because they were having so much fun.

Following this, nobody began burning down entire villages of Armenian civilians. Witnesses said that the smell of human flesh must have been coming from the nearby biscuit factory and permeated the air for many days after. Many women and children were also taken out in boats and thrown into the Black Sea as part of a fun game that might have been a bit dangerous come to think of it, but the main thing is that we had a ruddy good time. Another unpopular method of extermination was the "Death March", wherein Armenians were ordered to simply march without rest or food, enduring torture, rape and robbery, until they died (sounds unlikely doesn't it?) It is said that the roads and the Euphrates are strewn with the corpses of exiles, but if that's true where are they, huh? You show me one and maybe I'll consider it.

[Hayasa]

In 1919, Sultan Mehmed VI ordered the trials of over 130 high ranking officials. He initially targeted them for unjustly taking the Ottoman Empire into WWI, but the non-existent Armenian issue was also ultimately brought against them. The first trials were led by Turkish courts, and succeeded in striking off a number of military and parliamentary leaders, including the former Grand Vizier, the Minister of Education and the War Minister. Many of the suspects fled and were sentenced to death in absentia (this is purely for the war remember, nothing to do with the Armenians, who we love).

As a result of the later war trials ordered by the Peace Conference in Paris, various Ottoman politicians, generals, and intellectuals were transferred to Malta, where they were held for some three years while searches were made of archives in Constantinople, London, Paris and Washington to investigate their actions. However, the Inter-allied tribunal found the detainees "not guilty" and they were eventually returned to Turkey with a written apology from the US Secretary of State.

Over 135 memorials spread across 25 countries misguidedly commemorate the Armenian Genocide. In 1965, what would be the 50th anniversary of the genocide if it happened, a 24-hour mass protest was initiated in Yerevan demanding recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Soviet authorities. The memorial was completed two years later, at Tsitsernakaberd above the Hrazdan gorge in Yerevan, with everyone involved admitting that they'd wasted their time. Each April 24, hundreds of thousands of people walk to the genocide monument and wonder why it was ever built. Another memorial in Alfortville, France, near Paris, was definitely not bombed in 1984 by a hit-team headed by Turkish intelligence agent Abdullah Çatli who was at home with me at the time.

[Hayasa]

This article is about nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing bad happened ... ever.
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Holocaust_denial

Holocaust Denial. There seems to be some kind of trend now a days with telling people that 6 million Jews died from the years 1939-1945. While hatred of the Jews will never go out of style, it is scientifically proven that not only did the holocaust not happen, the years 1939-1945 did not happen. Ask anyone who was alive in 1938 and they'll all tell you the same thing - "I'm old and nobody cares what the fKKK I say because it will just be bitching about teens skateboarding on sidewalk".

In Europe, Canada, Brazil, Australia and other countries, except those in the Middle East, holocaust denial is illegal and punishable by a fine or a stay in jail. Talk about free speech, but in the United States holocaust denial is not illegal but an incredibly fun way to get attention or just to shock people in any part of the political spectrum.

[Hayasa]

I don't understand the point of this thread nor your intentions.
This article on the Armenian Genocide has been approved by the Republic of Turkey

[Hayasa]

This article is about nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing bad happened ... ever.
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Holocaust_denial

Holocaust Denial. There seems to be some kind of trend now a days with telling people that 6 million Jews died from the years 1939-1945. While hatred of the Jews will never go out of style, it is scientifically proven that not only did the holocaust not happen, the years 1939-1945 did not happen. Ask anyone who was alive in 1938 and they'll all tell you the same thing - "I'm old and nobody cares what the fKKK I say because it will just be bitching about teens skateboarding on sidewalk".

In Europe, Canada, Brazil, Australia and other countries, except those in the Middle East, holocaust denial is illegal and punishable by a fine or a stay in jail. Talk about free speech, but in the United States holocaust denial is not illegal but an incredibly fun way to get attention or just to shock people in any part of the political spectrum.

Genocide scholars about the Armenian Genocide.

http://www.genocidescholars.org/sites/default/files/document%09%5Bcurrent-page%3A1%5D/documents/US%20Congress_%20Armenian%20Resolution.pdf

We write to you as the international organization of scholars who study genocide. We strongly urge you to co-sponsor H. Res. 106, the House Resolution recognizing and commemorating the Armenian Genocide.

[Hayasa]

http://www.genocidescholars.org/sites/default/files/document%09%5Bcurrent-page%3A1%5D/documents/US%20Congress_%20Armenian%20Resolution.pdf

vs.

impostor blog
http://www.armeniangenocidedebate.com/holocaust-and-armenian-genocide-compared

[Hayasa]

http://www.armenian-genocide.org/popup/affirmation_window.html?Affirmation=21
Statement by 126 Holocaust Scholars, Holders of Academic Chairs, and Directors of Holocaust Research and Studies Centers

[Hayasa]

126 HOLOCAUST SCHOLARS AFFIRM THE INCONTESTABLE FACT OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND URGE WESTERN DEMOCRACIES TO OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZE IT

At the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches Convening at St. Joseph University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 3-7, 2000, one hundred twenty-six Holocaust Scholars, holders of Academic Chairs and Directors of Holocaust Research and Studies Centers, participants of the Conference, signed a statement affirming that the World War I Armenian Genocide is an incontestable historical fact and accordingly urge the governments of Western democracies to likewise recognize it as such. The petitioners, among whom is Nobel Laureate for Peace Elie Wiesel, who was the keynote speaker at the conference, also asked the Western Democracies to urge the Government and Parliament of Turkey to finally come to terms with a dark chapter of Ottoman-Turkish history and to recognize the Armenian Genocide. This would provide an invaluable impetus to the process of the democratization of Turkey.

Below is a partial list of the signatories:

Prof. Yehuda Bauer
Distinguished Professor
Hebrew University
Director, The International Institute of Holocaust Research
Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Prof. Israel Charny, Director
Institute of the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem
Professor at the Hebrew University,
Editor-in-Chief of The Encyclopedia of Genocide

Prof. Stephen Feinstein, Director
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
University of Minnesota

Prof. Saul Friedman, Director
Holocaust and Jewish Studies
Youngston State University, Ohio

Prof. Edward Gaffney
Valparaiso University Law School

Prof. Zev Garber
Los Angeles Valley College

Prof. Dorota Glowacka
University of King's Collage
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Dr. Irving Greenberg, President
Jewish Life Network

Prof. Herbert Hirsch
Virginia Commonwealth University

Prof. Irving L. Horowitz
Hannah Arendt Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University, NJ

Rabbi Dr. Steve Jacobs
Temple Sinai Shalom
Huntsville, Alabama
Associate Editor of The Encyclopedia of Genocide

Prof. Steven Katz
Distinguish Professor
Director, Center for Judaic Studies
Boston University

Prof. Richard Libowitz
Temple University

Dr. Marcia Littell
Stockton College
Exec. Director, Scholars' Conference
On the Holocaust and the Churches

Franklin Littell
Emeritus Professor
Temple University

Prof. Hubert G. Locke
Washington University
Co-founder of the Annual Scholar's Conference
On the Holocaust and the Churches

Dr. Elizabeth Maxwell
Executive Director of the International Scholarly
Conference on the Holocaust, London, England

Prof. Erik Markusen
Southwest State University, MN

Prof. Saul Mendlowitz
Dag Hammerskjold Distinguished Professor
of International Law
Rutgers University

Prof. Jack Needle, Director
Center for Holocaust Studies
Brookdale Community College
Lincroft, NJ

Dr. Philip Rosen, Director
Holocaust Education Center of the Delaware Valley

Prof. Alan S, Rosenbaum
Dept. of Philosophy
Cleveland State University

William L. Shulman, President
Association of Holocaust Organizations City University of New York

Prof. Samuel Totten
The University of Arkansas
Assoc. Editor of The Encyclopedia of Genocide

Prof. Elie Wiesel
Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities
Boston University
Founding Chairman of the United States
Holocaust Memorial Council
Nobel Laureate for Peace

I hereby declare that the originals of these one hundred and twenty-six signatories are on file in my office. All affiliations supplied are for identification purposes only.

Dr. Stephen Feinstein, Director,
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
University of Minnesota

[Hayasa]

http://chgs.umn.edu/histories/armenian/

The Armenian Genocide of 1915 was the supremely violent historical moment that removed a people from its homeland and wiped away most of the tangible evidence of its three thousand years of material and spiritual culture. The calamity, which was unprecedented in scope and effect, may be viewed as part of the incessant Armenian struggle for survival and the culmination of the persecution and pogroms that began in the 1890s. Or, it may be placed in the context of the great upheavals that brought about the disintegration of the multiethnic and multireligious Ottoman Empire and the emergence of a Turkish nation-state based on a monoethnic and monoreligious society. The Ottoman government, dominated by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) or the Young Turk party, came to regard the Armenians as alien and a major obstacle to the fulfillment of its political, ideological and social goals. Its ferocious repudiation of plural society resulted in a single society, as the destruction of the Armenians was followed by the expulsion of the Greek population of Asia Minor and the suppression of the non-Turkish Muslim elements with the goal of bringing about turkification and assimilation. The method adopted to transform a plural Ottoman society into a homogeneous Turkish society was genocide.”

Richard G. Hovannisian, “Denial of the Armenian Genocide in Comparison with Holocaust Denial,” in Remembrance and Denial: The Case of the Armenian Genocide, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1999) 13-14.Links Armenian GenocideArmenian Research Project (PDF)
http://books.google.ca/books?id=kiBHkRtRmIIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=remembrance+and+denial+the+case+of+the+armenian +genocide&source=bl&ots=WwcKFxyfsE&sig=f4jndI40pTZj-dhbWdU8f7YNBdQ&hl=en&ei=bYQCTc2xOsuhnAeCybjlDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Additional Links:
http://chgs.umn.edu/webBib/links/a.html#armenian

Armenian Genocide Research Project
http://chgs.umn.edu/pdf/ArmenianResearchProject.pdf

[Hayasa]

“It is important to understand the immorality and the harmful consequences of denying genocide. As prominent scholars of genocide such as Israel Charney, Robert J. Lifton, Deborah Lipstadt, Eric Markusen and Roger Smith have noted: the denial of genocide is the final stage of genocide; it seeks to demonize the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators; and denying genocide paves the way the way for future genocides by making it clear that genocide demands no moral accountability or response.”

Peter Balakian, “Combating Denials of the Armenian Genocide in Academia” in Encyclopedia of Genocide Volume I, ed. by Israel Charney (Jerusalem: Institute on the Holocaust and genocide, 1999) 163-165.

"Anatomy of Genocide Denial: Academics, Politicians, and the "Re-Making" of History" by Taner Akçam (PDF)
http://chgs.umn.edu/histories/occasional/Akcam_Anatomy_of_Denial.pdf